Right, what are we/you drinking now .. tonight

[Michael R]

2014 Grant Burge Shiraz Filsell

Drank from plastic cups whilst outside to view the Super Moon.
Overall not too bad . 87pts

87 points....at least rates a way higher experience than that 'Super' Moon IMO.

[JamieBahrain]

AFD

Commiserations

[JamieBahrain]

Funny week of quaffers. All French unusually.

1971 Moulin Touchais Coteaux du Layon, Loire- I found this extraordinary because I had a glass as an aperitif, shared a red, then finished the night on this intriguing style. Wonderful! Mostly dry, 13%, with some botrytis in the mix, smooths out superbly by bottle's end to present one of those unique wine experiences.

92pts

1999 Domaine Lucien Boillot et Fils Pommard 1er Cru Les Croix Noires- Decanted in a half decanter which works superb with stubborn burgundy. Brought out ashen, black and red shades, mulchy development, good Pommard palate profile with a slight grit in a nice, long finish.

90pts


Sylvain Loichet Ladoix, Les Gréchons 1er Cru 2008- Pryed this open, quince, tropical fruits, nice overall tension and minerality. There's a disturbing harshness easily bettered with food.


89pts

Yves Cuilleron St Peray Les Cerfs 2011- Marsanne and just lovely. A third of the price of the white burg and I've become a white rhone drinker a a viable burgundy alternative. Crazy good wines, interesting and even if comparatively flabbier, the cool northern Rhone climate presents enough acidity to balance .

90pts

[rooman]

Funny week of quaffers. All French unusually.

1971 Moulin Touchais Coteaux du Layon, Loire- I found this extraordinary because I had a glass as an aperitif, shared a red, then finished the night on this intriguing style. Wonderful! Mostly dry, 13%, with some botrytis in the mix, smooths out superbly by bottle's end to present one of those unique wine experiences.

I had a 1959 a few years back and it was amazing. If I hadn't seen the label, I would never have guessed its age. It had the structure to go another 50 odd years. Amazing wines.

Mark

[JamieBahrain]

Yes, really cool, I'm thinking of sourcing more and quirking up the Oz cellar.

[Bobthebuilder]

my OCD makes me want to push that last bottle further onto the table so badly

[RobK]

Francis Coppola Director's Zinfandel. I'm not that accustomed to drinking this variety. I found it to be just a bit thin for my liking. Probably better suited for a salad party than an evening drink perhaps.

[rooman]

By Farr Farrside Pinot Noir 2014 I've been on a bit of a pinot run recently. This was the first of two pinots over weekend. A superb wine with hints of forest floors on the nose, dark cherry fruit and a long structure through the middle with lingering after taste. I am not sure why we don't see more of the Farr wines discussed on the forum, for my money this pinot is right up there with the top pinots in Australia.

The second night it was the Domaine David Clark Côte de Nuits-Villages, 2008 . Quite a different wine in style, lighter in texture and more red fruit such as strawberries. Lighter tannin structure reflecting both the age of the wine and the fact it is an entry level wine. Not to the same standard as the Farrside pinot but enjoyable nevertheless.

[Hunter]

St Huberts roussanne 2015
A little Cloudy on appearance, quite floral nose.
Pear and citrus, rounded with good persistence some slatey finish.
Pretty decent. . and age worthy

[rooman]

I went to the TWE tasting last night. As I was on the way to concert afterwards, I didn't take notes but my overall impression was the best wines in their portfolio remain the Seppelts with the Drumbourg riesling 2016 shaping up to be a stellar wine along with the St Peters 2014.

On the Leo Buring table, the Leonay Eden Valley 2015 was streets ahead of the Clare Valley 2016 which was some distance ahead of the Eden Valley 2015.

On the Pennies table, the St Henri reminded me why I now have more of it in the cellar than any of their other wines though the 389 '14 was one wine I would also happily put a few bottles down below.

As for the other wines, the Coldstream Pinot was very ordinary as were most of the other pinots in the room. I also don't see myself adding any more Barossa shiraz to the cellar any day soon.

[Chris H]

1995 Mosswood Cabernet
A great vintage for MR. You'd struggle to pick this blind from something like a good left bank like Leoville Barton. Great drinking.

[RobK]

Francis Coppola 2013 Black Label Claret. Not an unpleasant wine and way better than the Zinfandel in my opinion. Would certainly go back for more.

[Matt@5453]

2014 Domaine Leflaive Macon Verze

Nice acidity, with lemons, touch of stone fruit on the palate. Nice mouthfeel and gentle oak. I liked it, but others didn’t.

2010 Chard Farm ‘The Tiger’ Pinot Noir, Central Otago

Darker fruits, raspberries, cherries and savoury French oak. Excellent length and balance. I think I opened this wine at a good time, drinking really well. My initial impression that it had more oak than I was expecting, but it did not detract from the wine. Really enjoyed this wine, great with duck...

2014 Turkey Flat Shiraz, Barossa

Medium to full bodied wine with a savoury ‘edge’ to it. Complex palate of plums, raspberries, even black olive. The oak treatment is modest and supports the wine. Length and complexity is excellent. The nose is simply intoxicating, just want to go back for more. Give this 10-15 years.

2014 John Duval ‘Entity’ Shiraz, Barossa & Eden Valley

Full bodied displaying blackberry, plums and whiffs of dark chocolate. A ‘seductive’ wine that has excellent balance and fine long tannins. Very good mouthfeel and length. Like the above wine a seductive nose keeping you coming back for more. Stunning wine.

2012 Massena Wines Tannat, Barossa

My first look at an Australian Tannat. Impenetrable in colour. Raspberries, dark plums, black pepper and spice; a very intriguing wine. The length is excellent. The pepper spice comes from the fruit, very minimal oak influence. This wine just screams for a medium rare steak, or a good blue cheese.

[Andrew Jordan]

I went to the TWE tasting last night. As I was on the way to concert afterwards, I didn't take notes but my overall impression was the best wines in their portfolio remain the Seppelts with the Drumbourg riesling 2016 shaping up to be a stellar wine along with the St Peters 2014.

On the Leo Buring table, the Leonay Eden Valley 2015 was streets ahead of the Clare Valley 2016 which was some distance ahead of the Eden Valley 2015.

On the Pennies table, the St Henri reminded me why I now have more of it in the cellar than any of their other wines though the 389 '14 was one wine I would also happily put a few bottles down below.

As for the other wines, the Coldstream Pinot was very ordinary as were most of the other pinots in the room. I also don't see myself adding any more Barossa shiraz to the cellar any day soon.

Managed to get to this as well ... lovely setting tasting wine looking out over the SCG.

Anyway totally agree with your comments above, thought the Seppelt range was fantastic. St Peters probably the best vintage in quite sometime and that is saying something. Also liked the Drumborg Riesling. Purchased a six pack of both. Quite enjoyed the 2014 Seppelt Original SS although a tad on the sweet side but my wife will love that. For $15 a bottle will be the house sparkling over the holidays I think. Pity they did not have the 2007 Show on tasting ... apparently it did not arrive?!? Also the first release of the Pepperjack NV SS was pretty decent as well but for the price point they are asking not sure I would buy it. The Leo Buring Leonay was good but did not think it was as good as the 2014. For $13 a bottle the Clare Valley Riesling I thought was pretty good value. Other than that not much to speak of. The Wynns stuff was good especially the 2014 Black Label Cab.

[michel]

AFD

Commiserations

Gonna be tasting some special wines tonight...

[Chuck]

Last night with some really nice fresh Japanese food we enjoyed a Philip Shaw 2015 No. 11 Orange Chardonnay. I must say it is another example of great chardy coming out of this emerging cool climate (snows regularly in winter) wine area. Quite elegant with cashews and not too much citrus it matched the delicate food perfectly. One of our fellow diners is warming to the new breed of chardy after being limited to riesling and semillon previously.

Carl

[shirazphile]

I went to the TWE tasting last night. As I was on the way to concert afterwards, I didn't take notes but my overall impression was the best wines in their portfolio remain the Seppelts with the Drumbourg riesling 2016 shaping up to be a stellar wine along with the St Peters 2014.

On the Leo Buring table, the Leonay Eden Valley 2015 was streets ahead of the Clare Valley 2016 which was some distance ahead of the Eden Valley 2015.

On the Pennies table, the St Henri reminded me why I now have more of it in the cellar than any of their other wines though the 389 '14 was one wine I would also happily put a few bottles down below.

As for the other wines, the Coldstream Pinot was very ordinary as were most of the other pinots in the room. I also don't see myself adding any more Barossa shiraz to the cellar any day soon.

I must confess I have gone off full-bodied shiraz. Whilst some wineries in the Barossa have dialed back the alcohol and oak, most I find too alcoholic and oaky.

[Michael McNally]

2014 Turkey Flat Shiraz, Barossa

Medium to full bodied wine with a savoury ‘edge’ to it. Complex palate of plums, raspberries, even black olive. The oak treatment is modest and supports the wine. Length and complexity is excellent. The nose is simply intoxicating, just want to go back for more. Give this 10-15 years.

Thanks sch5252

This is a regular buy for me so pleased to hear good things.

Cheers

Michael

[cuttlefish]

Peter Lehmann Margaret Semillon 2005
What a good wine. The screwcap is serving it well. Yellow golden in color, aromas of toast and green melon, grass, and river spray. The palate is light-medium bodied, with lovely roundness and flavours of melon matching the nose, to a degree. This is singing. 11.5%alc.

[michel]

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[deejay81]

Encasa has kinda recently opened up in Lane Cove so went there for dinner. Their liquor license hasn't come through yet, so they are doing free corkage for the time being. Didn't really plan on drinking, but after hearing this whilst ordering I decided run the 600m round trip to grab a bottle. Was totally worth it. Had it with beef cheeks, saffron scallops, beef & pork meatballs, and manchego & chorizo croquettes.
I didn't really take any notes as I was just enjoying this one with some nice tapas
So here's part of a tasting note from one I had 3 months ago:

2007 Ridge Lytton Springs
Cork was in pristine condition. Dark red/purple with no visible signs of age. Lots of red fruit on the nose with some earthiness and leather.
Taste is similar to the nose, with very well integrated oak, and a good amount of acidity putting everything together. If I drank this blind, I would have thought a ten year old Hunter Shiraz. Finish was long and kept my mouth watering for more.

[deejay81]

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Tidy tidy wines
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How good is the '96 right????

[michel]

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Tidy tidy wines
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How good is the '96 right????

Serious legend

[Redwine&Rum]

A few cellared wines this week.
2005 Tatiarra Culled Barrel shiraz. Drinkable, but past it. Actually very surprised it lasted this long. Zero tannin structure.
2006 D'Arenburg Dead Arm Shiraz. Beautiful spicy shiraz. Much better than the tatiarra. Enjoyed this with a big T'Bone and it was perfect.

[Willard]

A few cellared wines this week.
2005 Tatiarra Culled Barrel shiraz. Drinkable, but past it. Actually very surprised it lasted this long. Zero tannin structure.
2006 D'Arenburg Dead Arm Shiraz. Beautiful spicy shiraz. Much better than the tatiarra. Enjoyed this with a big T'Bone and it was perfect.

Hi Redwine,

What're your thoughts on the Dead Arm drinking window? Still primary? I ask, as I only have a single.

Cheers
Will

[Redwine&Rum]

I'd be leaving it a few more years. It had a lovely bouquet and lots of spicy fruit. It certainly wasn't past it. Not an amazing blow your mind wine but was certainly very enjoyable. If you have other wines that need drinking, I would go those first and leave this for another couple of years.

[Willard]

Thanks, appreciate it. Plenty of other wine to drink indeed.

Will

[Matt@5453]

Must admit have been on the Rose circuit recently, seems to be very 'in vogue' at the moment, without giving out names, there are some terrible examples out there...,however two highlights to report:

2015 La Prova Algianico Rosato, Adelaide Hills

Lightly perfumed nose of strawberries and faint hints of musk; sweet smelling. After the nose you'd expect a sweet palate, but to the contrary - dry, excellent. Again, strawberries, light, bright cherry, good acidity on the palate. A well crafted wine, screaming summer. I served my last glass with a few lumps of ice whilst in the spa; simply Devine. $20. If cheaper I'd buy a heap more. Recommend if you like a dry Rose style

2016 Turkey Flat Rose, Barossa Valley

Going out a limb here, close to the best Rose I've had to date. Grenache based. They have dropped the residual sugar from 10g/l to 3g/l over the last few years, for me, brilliant. Very provincial in style, this is a winner. Beautiful packaging to boot, sub $20 a steal! A crowd pleaser, so much so, will make the wine list for a milestone birthday next year.

2015 Claymore Wines 'Whole Lotta Love' Rose, Clare Valley

Give me a better Rose at $12. From memory Grenache, more colour than the Turkey Flat, but gee wizz good drinking and well made and balanced.

After these I went back to Riesling and balance to the universe was restored....

[Con J]

A couple of recent Penfolds wines.

1998 Bin 389 about a week ago.
Black ripe plum fruit, a big wine with a fair bit of vanilla oak.
I’d probably wait a couple of years before I open another one and hope the oak integrates.

1999 Magill Estate tonight.
Not as big as the Bin 389 maybe medium weight with some plums, black cherry and a little bit of spice. Still got some oak but more integrated.

My preference is the Magill Estate at the moment.

Got a 1996 Bin 389 standing up. I'll report how it goes when I open it.

Cheers Con.

1996 Penfolds BIN389.

On the nose there’s blackberries, chocolate a bit of spice. In the black fruit spectrum on the palate with nice tannins. Starting to drink well.

For my taste this is a better wine than the 1998, less obvious oak and more refined.

Cheers Con.

[sjw_11]

Last night I found a 2005 Tahbilk "1927 Vines" Marsanne on a wine list.

Horribly overpriced in a typical London fashion, especially as this is intensely youthful still despite being 11yrs old. Very clear, unevolved colour. Typical honeysuckle on the nose, but still very fresh, still yet to develop the richer honeyed notes of aged Marsanne. The palate is very acid driven as well. Needs another 10yrs minimum. Incredible stuff really.